Monday, August 27, 2012

Packers Down To 75 Players: Jarius Wynn Released

The Green Bay Packers announced 10 roster moves to shrink down to 75 players by today's deadline. Most of the transactions involved injured players and only one healthy player was released.

DE Jarius Wynn. This isn't the first time he's been released by the Packers, so it's not a big surprise. He was re-signed during the great injury rush of 2010, after Justin Harrell's annual season-ending injury. He's also one of the few players I've actually interviewed, so I'm disappointed to see that he's gone, but his play on the field didn't earn him a roster spot. He had a strong couple months down the stretch in 2010, and he was useful during their playoff run to the Super Bowl, but he was a non-factor last season after recording 3 sacks in their first three games. He was involved in a couple plays last week against the Bengals, but he was clearly behind other players like Philip Merling. The Packers might have to release three defensive lineman by the end of the week, so the final game will be very important for Merling, Lawrence Guy, and Mike Neal.

FB Jon Hoese was released, but he's also been out with a hamstring injury, so it's a release related to an injury. The former undrafted free agent was released last season too, and then brought back onto the practice squad late in the year, so we might see him again.

TE Andrew Quarless and LB Frank Zombo have been hurting all training camp, but they both have a chance to return after six weeks on the PUP list. I'm a little surprised OL Derek Sherrod wasn't listed here too, which may be a sign that he'll be ready to play soon.

It's too bad to see LB Desmond Bishop's season end before it began, but his hamstring injury was serious and he'll be out for the season on I.R. A few other players were also placed on I.R. (RB Du'ane Bennett, TE DeMarco Cosby, G Ray Dominguez, DE Johnny Jones, and WR Shaky Smithson) but I wouldn't have expected any of them to make the roster if they had been healthy. Rob Demovsky expects those last five players will "receive settlements and be waived."

There are a few other players that I expected to be released (OL Shea Allard, OL Greg Van Roten, and WR Diondre Borel all stood out in a bad way against the Bengals) but they still need players for the final preseason game against the Chiefs. The starters aren't likely to play, and Aaron Rodgers might not play at all. The front office might have a good idea of their final roster, but some guys will get at least one more chance to make a good impression.